Edwards is
trying to convey that nature was not put in place for mankind's pleasure but for God's pleasure.
Nature, which includes animals, the sun, the earth, and the air, are all under God's dominion,
not human dominion, except as decreed by God.
Edwards's anti-humanist
argument is urging people not to exalt themselves or to think they are the center of the
universe or equal with God. He wants his audience to understand how they look from God's point
of view, which is like insects. He wants them to acknowledge that God is much more powerful than
they are and could crush them in an instant.
Edwards says all this not to be
cruel (though we might wonder if he succeeds at that) but to try to save people. People who
singo against God's willare playing a very dangerous game in Edwards's opinion. God will let
them do their own thing for awhile, but he has the power at any moment to fling them into
eternal flamesand then there is nothing humans can do about it. Nature won't save
them....
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